List of renamed places in Zimbabwe

The name of the country has changed several times since it was originally demarcated in the late-nineteenth century by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company. The company initially referred to each territory it acquired by its respective name—Mashonaland, Matabeleland and so on—and collectively called its lands "Zambesia" (Rhodes' personal preference) or "Charterland" (Leander Starr Jameson's), but neither of these caught on. Most of the first settlers instead called their new home Rhodesia, after Rhodes; this was common enough usage by 1891 to be used by journalists. Southern Rhodesia attained responsible government as a self-governing colony in 1923,{{cite book The name "Zimbabwe", based on a Shona term for Great Zimbabwe, an ancient ruined city in the country's south-east, was first recorded as a term of national reference in 1960, when it was coined by the black nationalist Michael Mawema, whose Zimbabwe National Party became the first to officially use the name in 1961. The term Rhodesia, derived from Rhodes' surname, was perceived as inappropriate because of its colonial origin and connotations.{{cite book It was initially not clear how the chosen term was to be used—a letter written by Mawema in 1961 refers to "Zimbabweland"—but "Zimbabwe" was sufficiently established by 1962 to become the generally preferred term of the black nationalist movement. In a 2001 interview, black nationalist Edson Zvobgo recalled that the name was mentioned by Mawema during a political rally, "and it caught hold, and that was that". The name was subsequently used by the black nationalist factions during the Second Chimurenga campaigns against the Rhodesian government during the Rhodesian Bush War. The most major of these were the Zimbabwe African National Union (led by Robert Mugabe from 1975), and the Zimbabwe African People's Union, led by Joshua Nkomo from its founding in the early-1960s. When Northern Rhodesia achieved independence as Zambia in 1964, the Southern Rhodesian government introduced a bill to allow the country to be known simply as Rhodesia, which passed its third reading on 9 December 1964. Although no assent was given to the bill, the revised name was widely adopted, and following the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, it was the name of the unrecognised government.{{cite book ==Geographical renaming since 1980==

Starting in 1982, on the second anniversary of the country's independence as Zimbabwe, the government began renaming cities, towns and streets in an attempt to eradicate symbols of British colonialism and white minority rule. The capital Salisbury, which had been named after the British Prime Minister, the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, was renamed Harare, after the Shona chief Neharawa. Other place names were simply new transliterations, to reflect the orthography of the local language—many places had been gazetted with Sindebele orthography during the colonial period. This generally included the letter "l", which is not used in Shona, being used instead of "r". While most larger cities and towns were renamed, the spelling of Zimbabwe's second-largest city, Bulawayo, remains unchanged because its Sindebele orthography reflects the dominant ethnicity. Towns which have retained names of European origin include mostly smaller communities such as Beitbridge, Colleen Bawn, West Nicholson, Fort Rixon, Craigmore, Cashel, Juliasdale, Glendale, and Birchenough Bridge. The colonial-era names of suburbs of Harare, such as Borrowdale, Highlands, Rietfontein, Tynwald, and Mount Pleasant also remained unchanged. An exception was Harari, which was renamed Mbare. Street names were also changed, with names of British colonists such as Cecil Rhodes being replaced with those of Zimbabwean nationalist leaders, such as Jason Moyo, Josiah Tongogara, Simon Muzenda, and Leopold Takawira. Robert Mugabe's name eventually became attached to the main street or town centre of every sizeable town as a result of a spate of changes in 1990. Other streets have been named after leaders of neighbouring countries, such as Samora Machel of Mozambique, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Others have a general pan-African nationalist theme, such as Africa Unity Square in Harare, formerly Cecil Square. ==References==